Views and reviews of over-looked and under-appreciated culture and creativity

Thursday, March 08, 2012

A Driveway Moment -- Shooting the Junco

The sitting junco. Too bad I didn't have a salt shaker!

We've all heard the hackneyed advice, "take time to smell the roses." And although it's been repeated so often it's been reduced to a trite aphorism, there's still something to it.

Yesterday morning, for example, as I rushed out to the car to head for work, I found a junco sitting in the driveway (at least, I think that's what it was -- ornithologists are welcome to weigh in).

At first I thought it might be dead, as it didn't move even when I stood next to it. But it was in a sitting position, and when I nudged it, the bird reacted. Was it hurt? It didn't seem to be. It was just... sitting.

If you look carefully, it looks like there's some ruffled
feathers on its forehead. Could the bird have been stunned
by flying into something?

I should have just dropped everything in the car and drove off to work, but I happened to have a camera handy. So instead of getting to work on time, I spent the next fifteen minutes shooting the photos you see here. At times the camera was no more than a few inches from the subject.

The bird turned its head, and hopped around a bit. while letting me get very close to it. After a while, it hopped away and then took to the air.

I have no idea why it sat there for so long, but I'm glad I made the most of the opportunity. Not sure if this counts as smelling the roses, but shooting the junco was one of those magical moments I'm glad I didn't miss on my way to something more mundane. (click on the images to enlarge)